US citizens given Dubai safety warning

American citizens living in the United Arab Emirates have been put on alert by the US State Department which fears they could be targeted by violent protestors at a major conference.

03 Sep 2003 02:09 GMT

US officials are worried demonstrations could turn violent

The US says it is concerned over the safety of Americans living in Dubai ... the venue of The International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting.

Traditionally, IMF conferences attract a wide range of demonstrators and some rallies have known to explode into violence.

The US State Department said “outside elements” intent on causing trouble may attempt to destabilise the meetings. They added that Americans in the emirate should take "common sense precautions" during the 18 to 24 September annual meetings of the international financial institutions.

"Recent World Bank/IMF annual meetings have witnessed large demonstrations organised by outside elements," the department said in a statement.

"Demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn into confrontational situations and possibly escalate into violence."

"US citizens travelling or residing in Dubai should take common sense precautions to avoid demonstrations that may turn violent," the department said.

Dubai officials said last month that they would not tolerate “riots” during the conference, and have pledged to increase security for the event which is expected to attract at least 16,000 people to the event.